


Can You Feel...?

by coopbastian



Series: Love is a Polaroid [3]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, First Meetings, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, mentions of minor character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-31 06:43:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3968332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coopbastian/pseuds/coopbastian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eddie meets Barry for the first time when he hears crying from the bathroom stall besides him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can You Feel...?

**Author's Note:**

> Previously posted on tumblr/prompted by panromanticbarryallen on tumblr: Thallen, “I’m watching The Lion King on my phone and I’m trying to hide the fact I’m sobbing uncontrollably but you notice anyway.”

Eddie never thought he’d be considered one of the coolest kids in school, considering his status as “the new kid” just a couple weeks before. But here is, surrounded by his various classmates in the cafeteria, speaking to him and cracking jokes and gossiping about their pushy teachers. 

It honestly makes him want to excuse himself, just to get a minute to breathe. He’s never made this many friends in such a short amount of time before. It’s all overwhelming, he has to admit.  

So he does get up, hastily explaining that he needs to use the restroom. 

The second he steps into a corner bathroom stall, Eddie lets out a huge breath. He leans back onto the stall door, closing his eyes and reassuring himself that this could be a good thing–he could easily make amazing friends at this school. 

He just wishes why he’s become so popular. And how many of these “friends” would take advantage of him.  

Before he begins to worry again, though, he hears a sudden choked sob in the stall besides him. 

Eddie immediately straightens up, keeping as quiet as he can to make sure he heard right. 

Then there’s another sound of a sob, this time really struggling to stop. The cry keeps going for a few long seconds before Eddie decides to exit his own stall to knock on the next one. 

“Hey,” he says softly. There’s a hiccup and the crying stops. 

“O-occupied,” a weak voice comes from the other side of the door. 

Eddie wonders if he should let this go–maybe this kid needs some space, but when he hears the sobbing starting up again, he becomes really concerned. 

“Are you okay?” he asks. 

“’Course I am,” the voice answers, although it doesn’t sound convincing with the sobs in between. 

“Do you need to talk?” Eddie insists. 

“N-no, it’s…it’s stupid.” 

“It’s not stupid if something’s bothering you this much. It’s okay, you can talk to me, okay? Can you open the door?” 

There’s a pause for a moment, before Eddie hears the click of the stall door and there’s a rather tall and lanky boy standing in front of him, his face wet from the tears and his cheeks are a dark shade of red. 

Eddie notices the boy holding his cell phone in one hand with his earphones in.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asks, wanting to reach out–to touch his arm, his hand, anything to comfort the other boy. 

A few tears are still streaming down this boy’s face as he’s shaking his head. “It’s so freakin’ stupid,” he says. “Please don’t beat me up because of this.” 

Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up at this. This sweet, sensitive boy doesn’t get bullied, does he? The thought of it is actually making him sick. 

“I’m here to talk,” he reassures him. “I promise.” 

The boy gives Eddie the once over and then he hands him his phone. Eddie sees a familiar scene being paused. 

“I was watching  _The Lion King_ , okay?” the boy tells him. “I’m at the part where…where Mufasa…” At this, he begins to cry once again. 

Without thinking twice about it, Eddie pulls the boy into a hug. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he quietly says as the boy continues to sob. “We’ve all been there.” Which is true–Eddie still gets a bit teary-eyed to this day when he watches the Disney classic. 

“N-no, you don’t…you don’t understand,” the boy says in between sobs. “I haven’t watched it s-since…since…” 

He can’t continue. Eddie lets him cry uncontrollably into his shoulder for several minutes, wondering if they still have plenty of time before lunch is over. But he squeezes his grip onto the boy, not intending to let go, even if he has to miss class. 

Once the sobs finally die down, the boy washes his face, thanking Eddie and apologizing at the same time a millions times, and the two of them sit outside in the empty hallway together.

“You’re the new kid, aren’t you?” the boy asks, avoiding eye contact. 

Eddie smiles a bit anyway. “Yeah. I’m Eddie.” 

“Barry.” 

Barry…how come he’s heard of the name before? 

“Barry Allen,” the boy clarifies, and it clicks in Eddie’s head. 

He’s been hearing some strange rumors about the Allen’s from his classmates. A murder happened in the family, or something…?

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Eddie tells him, meaning every word, “if you don’t want to.”  

“You’ve heard the whole story, though,” Barry says. “I mean, it’s all anyone ever talks about here.” 

Eddie only shrugs. “Just bits and pieces, really,” he replies. “I never liked gossip, so…I guess I kept tuning it out.” 

Barry finally glances at him, as if he’s surprised at this. “So you really don’t know…?” 

Eddie shakes his head, looking into Barry’s adorable hazel eyes. “You don’t have to tell me, it’s alright.” 

“I want to, though.” 

“Well–you can. I…I’d rather hear this story from you.” 

So Barry does tell him. He tells him about the awful, terrible night of waking up, watching his mother get murdered, not being able to stop his dad from being arrested. He tells him about the man in the lightning. 

He tells him about how he used to watch  _The Lion King_ with his mom almost every night, and for some reason, after years of refusing to even think about the movie, Barry felt the need to watch it. 

He just couldn’t take it. 

When Barry starts to cry, very softly this time, Eddie puts an arm around him and he holds him like this until the bell rings. 

“It’s all going to be okay,” Eddie tells him quietly as students start flooding the hallways, so that Barry is the only one who can hear him. “I believe you, Allen.” 

Barry bites his bottom lip, clearly wanting to cry–hopefully from happiness and relief this time–but Eddie gives him one last hug before they part ways for class. 

The next day in science class, Eddie gets paired up with Barry as lab partners. 

“Guess you’re stuck with me for the rest of the semester,” Eddie says, winking at his new friend. 

“As long as you do your part,” Barry says, and Eddie notices the light blush in his cheeks. 

“Of course I will, Allen,” he says. “What do you take me for?” 

They look at each other for a moment, smiling shyly. Eddie then wonders how painful this new found crush is going to be…


End file.
